Human stem cell-derived neural precursors for treatment of autoimmune diseases of the central nervous system

ABSTRACT

The present invention concerns the use of a population of cells comprising: (a) neural precursor cells committed to an oligodendroglial fate; (b) uncommitted neural precursor cells (c) differentiated oligodendrocytes; or (d) a combination of any one of (a) to (c) for the treatment of CNS autoimmune diseases, or for the preparation of a pharmaceutical composition for treating CNS autoimmune diseases, the population of cells being derived from human pluripotent stem cells. The invention also provides methods for obtaining such populations of cells, namely, neural precursor cells committed to an oligodendroglial fate as well as differentiated oligodendrocytes which then can be used in the treatment of CNS autoimmune diseases. A preferred autoimmune disease in the context of the present invention is multiple sclerosis where the population of cells is administered to the CNS for local treatment of the disease.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to cell therapy and in particular to the use ofhuman stem cells (hESC) for the production of neural precursors fortreatment of autoimmune diseases.

PRIOR ART

The following is a list of prior art which is considered to be pertinentfor describing the state of the art in the field of the invention.Acknowledgement of these references herein will be made by indicatingthe number from their list below within brackets.

-   Reubinoff, B. E., et al., Embryonic stem cell lines from human    blastocysts: somatic differentiation in vitro. Nat Biotechnol, 2000.    18(4): p. 399-404.-   Thomson, J. A., et al., Embryonic stem cell lines derived from human    blastocysts. Science, 1998. 282(5391): p. 1145-7.-   Brustle, O., et al., Embryonic stem cell-derived glial precursors: a    source of myelinating transplants. Science, 1999. 285(5428): p.    754-6.-   Keirstead, H. S., et al., Human embryonic stem cell-derived    oligodendrocyte progenitor cell transplants remyelinate and restore    locomotion after spinal cord injury. J Neurosci, 2005. 25(19): p.    4694-705.-   Liu, S., et al., Embryonic stem cells differentiate into    oligodendrocytes and myelinate in culture and after spinal cord    transplantation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 2000. 97(11): p. 6126-31.-   Zhang, P. L., et al., Increased myelinating capacity of embryonic    stem cell derived oligodendrocyte precursors after treatment by    interleukin-6/soluble interleukin-6 receptor fusion protein. Mol    Cell Neurosci, 2006. 31(3): p. 387-98.-   Kang, S. M., et al., Efficient Induction of Oligodendrocytes from    Human Embryonic Stem Cells. Stem Cells, 2006. 25(2) p: 419-24-   Einstein, O., et al., Intraventricular transplantation of neural    precursor cell spheres attenuates acute experimental allergic    encephalomyelitis. Mol Cell Neurosci, 2003. 24(4): p. 1074-82.-   Einstein, O., et al., Transplanted neural precursor cells reduce    brain inflammation to attenuate chronic experimental autoimmune    encephalomyelitis. Exp Neurol, 2006. 198(2): p. 275-84.-   Pluchino, S., et al., Neurosphere-derived multipotent precursors    promote neuroprotection by an immunomodulatory mechanism.    Nature, 2005. 436(7048): p. 266-71.-   Itsykson, P., et al., Derivation of neural precursors from human    embryonic stem cells in the presence of noggin. Mol Cell    Neurosci, 2005. 30(1): p. 24-36.-   Billon, N., et al., Normal timing of oligodendrocyte development    from genetically engineered, lineage-selectable mouse ES cells. J    Cell Sci, 2002. 115(Pt 18): p. 3657-65.-   Nistor, G. I., et al., Human embryonic stem cells differentiate into    oligodendrocytes in high purity and myelinate after spinal cord    transplantation. Glia, 2005. 49(3): p. 385-96.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic immune mediated disease of thecentral nervous system (CNS), which is the leading cause forneurological disability in young adults. The pathological process of MSincludes immune cell infiltrations, oligodendrocyte death, demyelinationand axonal damage. Several pathological and imaging studies indicatethat the chronic disability is attributed mainly to axonal damage.Axonal damage in MS occurs in the early phase of the disease, inactively demyelinating lesions. In later stages of the disease, however,an ongoing, low grade axonal degeneration occurs in silent inactiveplaques but not in remyelinated axons.

Spontaneous remyelination is a regular feature at early stages of lesionformation in some MS cases. Nevertheless, the remyelination processeventually fails due to environmental factors and intrinsic propertiesof progenitor cells.

The potential of Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) [1, 2] todifferentiate into oligodendroglial cells was demonstrated both withmouse and human ES cells [3-7]. Moreover, the potential of EScells-derived neural progeny to remyelinate in genetic models ofhypo/dysmyelination and in models of focal demyelination was shown[8-11].

Transplanted cells may have a therapeutic effect in CNS autoimmunedisorders not only by serving as a source of cells for regeneration, butalso by immunomodulation and attenuation/abolishment of the inflammatoryprocess. Einstein et al show that rodent fetal brain-derived neuralprecursor cells (NPC) transplanted into the ventricles decrease braininflammation [12]. Similarly, peripherally injected rodent brain-derivedNPC migrate into white matter and decrease brain inflammation [14].Pluchino et al. show that intravenously injected, adult rodentbrain-derived NPC, promote functional recovery in a chronic model of MS(Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis, EAE) [15]. In a laterpublication, Pluchino et al [14] show that adult rodent brain-derivedNPC promote neuroprotection using immune-like functions, e.g. induceapoptosis of encephalitogenic T cells, exerting their effect within theCNS. Einstein et al [13] show that intravenous injection ofrodent-fetal-derived NPC attenuates EAE by interacting with theperipheral immune system.

Also describes is a system for regulating the immune response in thecontext of regenerative medicine or treatment of autoimmune disease,e.g. multiple sclerosis. The inventors propose administeringundifferentiated human ES cells at the site of the pathology in anattempt to inhibit an immune response. However, since one of theinherent properties of undifferentiated ES cells is to generate tumors,this approach is probably not suitable for use in vivo, and hence immunemodulation by cell therapy requires a different approach [23].

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide for various uses ofneural precursors derived from human pluripotent stem cells for treatingCNS inflammatory conditions, such as CNS autoimmune disorders.

The present disclosure is based on the finding that transplantation ofhESC-derived neural precursors attenuates the clinical and pathologicalfeatures of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) EAE at least by animmunosuppressive mechanism. Further it was found that aftertransplantation into the site of inflammation which is the CNS in EAEmice, hESC-derived neural precursors were capable of migrating andintegrating in the host CNS, and differentiating towards anoligodendroglial lineage. The unique combination of therapeuticadvantages of hESC-derived neural precursor cells (committed oruncommitted) and/or of differentiated oligodendrocytes propagatedtherefrom underlies their use as a novel form of cell therapy.

Thus, in accordance with one aspect, there is provided the use of apopulation of cells comprising: (a) neural precursor cells committed toan oligodendroglial fate; (b) uncommitted neural precursor cells (c)differentiated oligodendrocytes; or (d) any combinations of two or moreof (a) to (c) for the treatment of CNS autoimmune diseases, saidpopulation of cells being derived from human pluripotent stem cells.

There is also provided the use of a population of cells comprising: (a)neural precursor cells committed to an oligodendroglial fate; (b)uncommitted neural precursor cells (c) differentiated oligodendrocytes;or (d) any combinations of two or more of same for the preparation of apharmaceutical composition for the treatment of CNS autoimmune diseases,said population of cells being derived from human pluripotent stemcells.

In another aspect there is provided a method for preparing a populationof neural precursor cells committed to an oligodendroglial fate;comprising:

-   -   (a) incubating early multipotent uncommitted neural precursor        cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells with RA and an        HH agonist at a first concentration being between about 0.5 μM        and about 2.0 μM to allow the cells to propagate as floating        spheres enriched with oligodendroglial precursors;    -   (b) allowing the floating spheres to further expand in a medium        comprising a second concentration of HH agonist that is not more        than about 0.5 μM to obtain an expanded population of neural        precursor cells committed to an oligodendroglial fate.

An feature of the invention includes the use of a second concentrationof HH being not more than 0.5 μM.

For the preparation of a population of cells comprising differentiatedoligodendrocytes, the thus obtained expanded population of neuralprecursor cells committed to an oligodendroglial fate is plated on anECM thereby allowing differentiation into said differentiatedoligodendrocytes. A preferred method includes plating in the absence ofHH agonist and in the absence of mitogens. A cocktail of survival anmaturation factors is preferentially used, such as that detailed in theMaterials and Methods.

The invention also concerns a method for treating a subject having a CNSautoimmune disease, the method comprising administering to said subjecta population of cells derived from human pluripotent cells, thepopulation of cells comprising: (a) neural precursor cells committed toan oligodendroglial fate; (b) uncommitted neural precursor cells (c)differentiated oligodendrocytes; or (d) any combination of two or moreof (a) to (c).

A feature of the method of treatment concerns the local administrationof the population of cells, namely, the transplantation of the cells inthe CNS, specifically, to the lateral ventricles and/or intrathecally.

The invention also provides a pharmaceutical composition for thetreatment of a CNS autoimmune disease, comprising a population of cellscomprising: (a) neural precursor cells committed to an oligodendroglialfate; (b) uncommitted neural precursor cells (c) differentiatedoligodendrocytes; or (d) a combination of any one of (a) to (c), saidpopulation of cells being derived from human pluripotent stem cells.

Yet, the invention provides a method for producing a population ofdifferentiating neural precursor cells committed towardsoligodendroglial fate, the method comprising:

-   -   (a) incubating early multipotent uncommitted neural precursor        cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells with retinoic        acid (RA) and an hedgehog (HH) agonist at a first concentration        between about 0.5 μM and about 2.0 μM to allow the cells to        propagate as floating spheres enriched with oligodendroglial        precursors;    -   (b) allowing the floating spheres to further expand in a medium        comprising a second concentration of HH agonist that is not more        than about 0.5 μM to obtain an expanded population of neural        precursor cells committed to an oligodendroglial fate.

Also provided is a method for producing a population of differentiatedoligodendrocyte cells the method comprising the above steps followed byplating expanded population of neural precursor cells committed to anoligodendroglial fate on an extracellular matrix (in the absence of HHagonist or mitogens) thereby allowing differentiation intooligodendrocytes.

The invention also provides a population of oligodendroglial committedprecursor cells obtainable, and preferably obtained, by incubatingfloating spheres of early multipotent uncommitted neural precursor cellsin a medium comprising a concentration of HH agonist that is not morethan about 0.5 μM; said oligodendroglial committed progenitor cellsexpressing one or more of the markers selected from Olig1, Olig2, NG2,PDGFRα, GD3, where at least Olig2 is co expressed with one or more of amarker selected from NG2, PDGFRα, GD3. A unique feature of these cellsis that they are expandable.

Finally, there is provided a method for promoting differentiation ofearly multipotent uncommitted neural precursor cells towardsoligodendroglial fate, the method comprising propagating floatingspheres comprising early multipotent uncommitted neural precursors in amedium comprising purmorphamine.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to understand the invention and to see how it may be carriedout in practice, embodiments will now be described, by way ofnon-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings,in which:

FIGS. 1A-1F are fluorescent images showing characteristics ofhESC-derived neural precursors generated in accordance with the presentdisclosure for transplantation, the characteristics including expressionof A2B5 (FIG. 1A), Musashi (FIG. 1B), Nestin (FIG. 1C) and PSA-NCAM(FIG. 1D) by over 90% of the cells, and characteristics of these cellsfollowing seven days of differentiation showing that the neuralprecursors differentiated mainly into βIII tubulin expressing neurons(FIG. 1E) and GFAP expressing astrocytes (FIG. 1F). Cells expressingoligodendroglial markers were not detected.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing a significant inhibition of the clinicalparameters in transplanted animals (▪) in comparison to control animals(▴) following transplantation of hESC-derived neural precursors.

FIGS. 3A-3J: are images showing Immunofluorescence stainings of brainsections demonstrating the survival and differentiation of transplantedneural precursors, which were identified by the expression of humanmitochondria (FIGS. 3A, 3C-3G), human nuclei (FIG. 3B) and GFP (inset inFIG. 3A, 2H). (A): The neural precursors migrated extensively into whitematter areas of the CNS such as the corpus callosum (CC) and were notobserved in grey areas such as subcortical grey matter (SGM). Costainingagainst the oligodendroglial marker, O4 (red) was used to identify thewhite matter. Also shown are images from transverse semi-thin sectionscut from resin embedded spinal cords of transplanted (FIG. 3J) andcontrol (FIG. 3I) animals. Arrows indicate demyelinated axons.

FIG. 4 provides linear regression analysis of neural precursorstransplanted and control mice at 13 and 20 days post EAE inductionshowing in both groups in the acute phase of EAE a strong correlationbetween the numbers of T cells and macrophages per mm² and thepercentage of axonal loss. (r²=0.86, P=0.00002).

FIGS. 5A-50 show evolution of inflammation, demyelination and axonaldamage in the CNS of hESC-derived neural precursors-transplanted versuscontrol EAE mice exhibited by immune-cell infiltrates (FIG. 5A), T cells(FIG. 5D) and macrophages/activated microglia (FIG. 5G) Kluver Barrerastaining indicative of demylination (FIG. 5J) and Bielschowsky stainingindicative of axonal damage (FIG. 5M), as well as representative imagesof H&E staining (FIG. 5B-5C), CD3 (FIG. 5E-5F) and Mac3 immunostaining(FIG. 5H-5I), Kluver Barrera staining (FIG. 5K-5L) and Bielschowskysilver staining (FIG. 5N-5O)

FIG. 6A-6E show suppressive effects of hESC-derived neural precursors onlymph node cells (LNCs) and T cells derived from naïve C57BL mice asexhibited by neural precursors suppression of ³H-thymidine incorporationinto the activated LNCs (FIG. 6A), as well as by FACS analysis ofinterleukin-2 receptor α (IL-2Rα; CD25) expression after 24 hours ofConA-stimulation showing the inhibitory effect of human neuralprecursors on Thy1.2+ T cells as determined by the fraction of labeledcells and by mean fluorescent intensity (MFI) (FIGS. 6B-6C); and FACSanalysis of CFSE labeled LNCs after 72 hours of ConA stimulation showingthe inhibitory effect of human neural precursors on proliferation ofThy1.2+ T cells (FIGS. 6D-6E).

FIGS. 7A-7I are fluorescent images showing oligodendroglialdifferentiation of hESCs in vitro following retinoic acid treatment,exhibited by expression of the (oligodendrocyte precursor cells) OPCsmarkers NG2 (12%) (FIGS. 7A,7C,7D,7F) GD3 (20%) (FIGS. 7B, 7C) andPDGFRα (15%) (FIGS. 7E, 7F), as well as of the mature oligodendrocytemarkers, O4 (FIG. 7G, 7I) and GalC (FIG. 7H, 7I). Nuclei in FIGS. 7C,7F, 7G-7I are counter stained with DAPI.

FIG. 8A-8H are fluorescence images of oligodendroglial differentiationof hESCs in vitro following treatment with retinoic acid andpurmorphamine and propagation in low purmorphamine concentrations, asexhibited by expression of the OPCs markers Olig2 (30%) (FIG. 8A),PDGFRα (20%) (FIG. 8B) and NG2 (20%) (FIG. 8C) as well as markers ofmature oligodendrocytes O4 (20%) (FIG. 8D), GalC (15%) (FIG. 8E) and MBP(3%) (FIG. 8F), as well as the expression of Olig2 (FIG. 8G) and O4(FIG. 8H) in the absence of low purmorphamine concentrations

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The present invention stems from a sequence of empiric findings by theinventors which led to the development of novel methods and products asdetailed below. Specifically, empiric data was collected concerning theeffect of neural precursors derived from human embryonic stem cells(hESCs) on a chronic model of multiple sclerosis (MS), namely, EAE.

MS is the prototype of several related immune-mediated CNS diseases thatare relevant to the present disclosure. The pathological process of manyCNS-associated immune diseases, such as MS, involves immune cellinfiltrations, oligodendrocyte death, demyelination and axonal damage.Thus, it has been envisages by the inventors that there would be atherapeutic benefit if conditions that contribute to both the process ofremyelination and immunosuppression are provided. Moreover, it has beenenvisaged by the inventors that it would be especially advantageous todeliver the effect in a targeted fashion to the involved tissue, namely,local treatment as opposed to systemic administration.

Transplantation of a population of cells derived from human pluripotentstem cells and comprising neural precursors that includeoligodendroglia-committed cells and/or oligodenrocytes may be used bothfor suppression of the inflammatory process and thus, halting thedisease progression, as well as for oligodendrocytes and myelinregeneration. The integration of such cells in host tissue and theirselective migration to inflamed sites may be utilized to deliver thebeneficial effect specifically to the inflamed sites of disease.

The present disclosure generally concerns the use of cells derived fromhuman pluripotent stem cells, e.g. human embryonic stem cells (hESC) orinduced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) for targeted(tissue-specific) suppression of inflammatory processes associated withCNS-autoimmune diseases, such as MS, as well as for in situ regenerationof oligodendrocyte population, by transplantation of the cells to thelateral ventricle or intrathecally. Thus immunosuppressive effects arecombined with remyelination capabilities.

Accordingly, by a first of its aspects, the present disclosure providesthe use of a population of cells comprising: (a) neural precursor cellscommitted to an oligodendroglial fate; (b) uncommitted neural precursorcells (c) differentiated oligodendrocytes; or (d) a combination of anyone of (a) to (c) for the treatment of autoimmune diseases of thecentral nervous system (CNS), or for the preparation of a pharmaceuticalcomposition for said treatment, the population of cells being derivedfrom human pluripotent stem cells.

In the context of the present invention the human pluripotent stem cellsinclude, without being limited thereto, human embryonic stem cells(hESC), human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) or any other“reprogrammed” human cell being capable of differentiating towards adesired fate, i.e. towards oligodendroglial fate

The population of cells comprises uncommitted neural precursors havingwell defined characteristics. Such characteristics include, withoutbeing limited thereto, expression of one or more of the followingmarkers: A2B5 (FIG. 1A), Musashi (FIG. 1B), Nestin (FIG. 1C) andPSA-NCAM (FIG. 1D) as well as the potential to differentiate into βIIItubulin expressing neurons (FIG. 1E) and GFAP expressing astrocytes. Asknown in the art these uncommitted neural precursors differ from thestem/progenitor cells derived from the brain of fetal tissues (16).Conditions suitable for inducing hESCs differentiation towards neuralprecursors are known in the art, such as from Itsykson, P., et al.,(17). The minimal conditions for obtaining uncommitted neural precursorsfrom hESCs are culturing small clusters of hESCs in suspension in achemically defined medium that promote the culture of neural precursors.Such chemically defined mediums are known in the art. The process ofneutralization may be augmented by supplementation with noggin. Theprocess of neutralization is also promoted by supplementation with FGF2or FGF2+EGF.

When referring to a population of neural precursors derived from humanpluripotent stem cells it is to be construed that at least 40%,preferably 70% and more preferably above 90% of the cells exhibit atleast one characteristic of neural precursors as provided above.

The population of cells may include committed as well as uncommittedneural precursors. When referring to committed cells it is meant cellscommitted to an oligodendroglial fate. At times, neural precursor cellscommitted to an oligodendroglial fate will be referred to asoligodendroglial progenitors. The population of cells may also include(in addition or alternatively) terminally differentiatedoligodendrocytes, derived from human pluripotent stem cells, as will beexplained below.

In the context of the present disclosure, “cells committed to anoligodendroglial fate” are to be construed as human pluripotent stemcells that under appropriate conditions will differentiate intooligodendrocytes. Cells committed to an oligodendroglial fate havecharacteristics that distinguish them from uncommitted neuralprecursors. Such characteristics include, without being limited thereto,the oligodendroglial markers Olig1, Olig2, NG2, PDGFRα, GD3, O4, GalCand MBP.

The population of cells may be employed for the treatment of variousacute and chronic CNS-autoimmune diseases that exhibits at least oneinflammatory component. The diseases may include, without being limitedthereto, stroke and ischemic damage to the nervous system; neural trauma(e.g., closed and penetrating injuries to the brain and spinal cord);multiple sclerosis and its variants such as neuromyelitis optica, acutedisseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) and transverse myelitis;Guillain-Barre syndrome and its variants, acute motor axonal neuropathy,Fisher Syndrome and other immune-mediated neuropathies (e.g.,);Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

The term “central nervous system” refers to all structures within thedura mater. Such structures include, but are not limited to, the brainand spinal cord.

The term “treatment” as used herein is to be construed as referring toprotective treatment (i.e. prophylactice, in terms of preventing orpartially preventing the CNS autoimmune disease) as well as therapeuticin terms of a partial or complete cure of the disease or adverse effectattributed to the disease. The term “treatment”, as used herein,includes: (a) preventing the disease from occurring in a subject whichmay be predisposed to the disease but has not yet been diagnosed ashaving it, i.e., causing the clinical symptoms of the disease not todevelop in a subject that may be predisposed to the disease but does notyet experience or display symptoms of the disease; (b) inhibiting thedisease, i.e., arresting or reducing the development of the disease orits clinical symptoms; or (c) relieving the disease, i.e., causingregression of the disease and/or its symptoms or conditions.

More specifically, “treatment” in the context of the present inventionis such that it would result in one or both of immunosuppressive effectand remyelination in the site of inflammation so as to prevent damage toan inflammed tissue or improve the condition of the damaged tissue.Improvement may result in the inhibition or cesation of damage caused tothe damaged tissue as well as regeneration of damage already existing.

In one embodiment, the CNS autoimmune disease is associated with aninflammatory reaction, such as an inflammatory demyelinating disease.One particular disease in accordance with this embodiment is multiplesclerosis (MS).

In one embodiment, the population of cells is enriched with cellscommitted to an oligodendroglial fate. In the same or anotherembodiment, the population of cells comprises uncommitted neuralprecursors. In yet the same or different embodiment, the population ofcells comprises cells terminally differentiated oligodendrocytes. In allembodiments, a common inventive feature is that all cells are derivedfrom human pluripotent stem cells, preferably from human embryonic stemcells.

The population of cells comprising neural precursors committed to anoligodendroglial fate are obtainable, preferably obtained, without beinglimited thereto, by the following procedure:

-   -   (a) incubating early multipotent uncommitted neural precursor        cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells (which, as        indicated above, may be obtained as described by Itsykson, P.,        et al., (18) or by any other method known in the art, some of        which is referred to above), with retinoic acid (RA, at a        concentration of between 0.5 to 20 μM, preferably at about 1 μM)        and an hedgehog (HH) agonist at an HH concentration between 0.5        μM and 2.0 μM preferably 0.5 μM, to allow said early multipotent        NPs to propagate as floating spheres being enriched with        oligodendroglial precursors;    -   (b) allowing the floating spheres to further expand in a medium        comprising a second concentration of HH agonist that is not more        than about 0.5 μM, preferably between about 0.2 μM and 0.5 μM,        to obtain an expanded population of neural precursorcells        committed to an oligodendroglial fate.

As indicated above, the population of cells may in addition oralternatively comprise differentiated oligodendrocytes. Suchdifferentiated oligodendrocytes may be obtained by: plating the thusexpanded population of cells on a culture matrix, namely, extracellularmatrix (ECM), such as laminin or fibronectin, the latter beingpreferably, in the absence of HH agonist and mitogens, thereby allowingdifferentiation into said differentiated oligodendrocytes.

In one embodiment, the HH agonist, being preferably Sonic HH agonist, isselected from purmorphamine, Hh-Ag1.3 (Curis Company) and others.

In one embodiment, the incubation with HH agonist is performed in thepresence of at least one mitogen. The term “mitogen” is known in the artas any chemical substance that induces cell division, i.e. triggersmitosis. Non-limiting mitogens to be used in accordance with the methoddisclosed herein, are bFGF and EGF or PDGF.

A surprising finding underlying the present invention is based onempiric data where hESC-derived neural precursors were administered tothe target site, namely, to the lateral ventricle and the cellsselectively migrated to the inflamed/damaged area. In other words, indifference with hitherto described or proposed treatments ofCNS-autoimune diseases making use of stem cell derived neural precursorsbeing administered systemically, the present disclosure has establishedan effective local treatment for CNS-autoimmune conditions. Those versedin the art of medicine would readily appreciate the advantages of localtreatment vs. systemic treatment, at least in terms of side effects.Essentially, systemic immunosuppressive treatments render the entirebody to be susceptible to infections that invaded the body or rose fromthe microbial flora that resides constantly in the body, as well as tomalignant tumors. Here, the anti-inflammatory effect of the populationof cells as defined herein are targeted specifically to the diseasesites, thus avoiding any systemic complications. Targeting of celltherapy is achieved by both the direct delivery of cells to the centralnervous system, as well as the nature of cells in the defined populationto be attracted and to migrate towards the inflamed CNS tissue.

The present disclosure also pertains to a method for preparing apopulation of neural precursor cells committed to an oligodendroglialfate comprising

-   -   (a) incubating early multipotent uncommitted neural precursor        cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells with RA and an        HH agonist at a first concentration being between about 0.5 μM        and about 2.0 μM to allow the cells to propagate as floating        spheres enriched with oligodendroglial precursors;    -   (b) allowing the floating spheres to further expand in a medium        comprising a second concentration of HH agonist that is not more        than about 0.5 μM to obtain an expanded population of neural        precursor cells committed to an oligodendroglial fate

For preparing a population of cells comprising differentiatedoligodendrocytes, a further step is required, which includes plating thethus obtained expanded population of neural precursor cells committed toan oligodendroglial fate on an ECM, in the absence of HH agonist andmitogens, thereby allowing differentiation into said differentiatedoligodendrocytes.

Further provided herein is a method for treating a subject having a CNSautoimmune disease, preferably those associated with an inflammatoryreaction, e.g. inflammatory demyelinating disease, the method comprisingadministering to said subject a population of cells derived from humanpluripotent stem cells as described above. The method in accordance withthe present disclosure is preferably for the treatment of multiplesclerosis (MS).

The method of treatment may involve administration to a subject having aCNS-autoimmune disease with more than one population of cells derivedfrom human pluripotent stem cells, the populations may be selected froma population of cells comprising uncommitted cells, another populationcomprising neural precursor cells committed to an oligodendroglial fate;and yet a further population comprising differentiated oligodendrocytes;the populations may be administered together or separately,simultaneously or in sequence (with an interval of minutes, hours oreven days or weeks). The method may also include administration of apopulation of cells comprising a mixture of cells derived from humanpluripotent stem cells selected from precursor cells committed to anoligodendroglial fate, uncommitted neural precursors, and terminallydifferentiated oligodendrocytes.

Treatment in accordance with the present disclosure involves,preferably, local administration (transplantation) of the population ofcells in accordance with the invention to the CNS. To this end, thetreatment cells may be formulated in a form suitable so orintrathecally. It has been established by empiric data, such as thatpresented for the first time herein, that cells derived from humanpluripotent stem cells, specifically, from hESC and transplanted to thelateral ventricle migrated essentially exclusively to the inflamed site.

It is noted that the neural precursors migrate to the target sitewhereby they may be retained as uncommitted precursors, or committedinto common bipotential neuronal/oligodendroglial precursors, or furtherdifferentiated into neuronal pogenitors, oligodendroglial-commitedprecursors, astrocytes, and/or mature oligodendrocytes.

The cells may be administered by various techniques known in the art ofcell transplantation. These include intrathecal injection into thespinal subarachnoid space and intraventricualr injection, as performedfor insertion of an Omaya reservoir or a ventriculostomy, and similarmethods,

Treatment in accordance with the invention may include a singleadministration or several administrations of the populations of cells inintervals of days, weeks as well as of months. The severaladministrations may also include administrations of the same ordifferent populations. For instance, one or more administrations mayinclude a population enriched with neural precursors committed to anoligodendroglial fate, and other administrations may include terminallydifferentiated oligodendrocytes.

In accordance the present disclosure the amount of cells in thepopulation to be transplanted is determined by methods known in the artof cell transplantation. The amount must be effective to at leastattenuate the inflammatory response, namely to at least achieve animmunosuppressive effect on the CNS inflammatory reaction, therebyachieving improvement in the condition of the subject undergoing thetreatment.

The amount will depend, inter alia, on the type and severity of theautoimmune disease to be, the site and method of administration,scheduling of administration, patient age, sex, body weight and otherfactors known to medical practitioners. The effective amount istypically determined in appropriately designed clinical trials (doserange studies) and the person versed in the art will know how toproperly conduct such trials in order to determine the required amount.

Also provided by the present disclosure are pharmaceutical compositionsfor the treatment of a CNS autoimmune disease, comprising apharmaceutically acceptable carrier and the population of NP cellsderived from hESC as disclosed herein. The pharmaceutically acceptablecarrier may include an ECM, such as fibronectin, laminin or any othermedium required for the viability of the cells during the process oftransplantation.

Also provided herein is a method for producing a population ofdifferentiating neural precursor cells committed towardsoligodendroglial fate, the method comprising:

-   -   (a) incubating early multipotent uncommitted neural precursor        cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells with retinoic        acid (RA) and an hedgehog (HH), the HH agonist at a first        concentration between about 0.5 μM and about 2.0 μM to allow the        cells to propagate as floating spheres being enriched with        oligodendroglial precursors;    -   (b) allowing the floating spheres to further expand in a medium        comprising a second concentration of HH agonist that is not more        than about 0.5 μM to obtain an expanded population of neural        precursor cells committed to an oligodendroglial fate.

Also provided is a method for producing a population of differentiatedoligodendrocyte, comprising:

-   -   (a) incubating early multipotent uncommitted neural precursor        cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells with retinoic        acid (RA) and an hedgehog (HH), the HH agonist at a first        concentration between about 0.5 μM and about 2.0 μM to allow the        cells to propagate as floating spheres being enriched with        oligodendroglial precursors;    -   (b) allowing the floating spheres to further expand in a medium        comprising a second concentration of HH agonist that is not more        than about 0.5 μM to obtain an expanded population of neural        precursor cells committed to an oligodendroglial fate; and    -   (c) plating expanded population of neural precursor cells        committed to an oligodendroglial fate on an extracellular        matrix, in the absence of HH agonist and mitogens, thereby        allowing differentiation into oligodendrocytes.

As used herein “differentiating cells” denotes cells that are capable ofdifferentiating into other cell types having a particular, specializedfunction.

As used herein “differentiated oligodendrocytes” denotes mature cellsthat have fully differentiated into such cells (terminallydifferentiated), exhibiting the specialized function and characteristicsof oligodendrocytes.

The method of producing a population of differentiating cells committedtowards oligodendroglial fate or differentiated oligodendrocytespreferably makes use of the following components:

-   -   the use of HH or its agonist; where the HH agonist is preferably        purmorphamine;    -   incubation with HH agonist is preferably, although not        exclusively, performed in the presence of at least one mitogen;    -   the first concentration of HH agonist is preferably, although        not exclusively about 0.5 μM, and the second concentration of HH        agonist is between about 0.2 μM and about 0.5 μM;    -   the second concentration of HH agonist allows expansion of the        population of oligodendroglial committed precursors.    -   to obtain differentiated oligodendrocytes, the committed        precursor cells are plated on an ECM being preferably, but not        exclusively, fibronectin in the absence of HH agonist and        mitogens;

The cells obtained may be characterized by the expression of at leastone of the following markers: Olig1, Olig2, NG2, PDGFRα, GD3, O4, GalCand MBP. Committed NPs to oligodendroglial fate may be characterized bythe expression of Olig2 and at least one of NG2, PDGFRα, and GD3.Further, the neural precursors committed to oligodendroglial fate may becharacterized by their capability to expand in the presence of low (notmore than 0.5 μM) HH agonist. Differentiated oligodendrocytes arecharacterized by the expression of Olig2 and at least one of 04, GalCand MBP.

Also provided by the present invention is a population ofoligodendroglial committed precursor cells obtainable by incubatingfloating spheres of early multipotent uncommitted neural precursors in amedium comprising a concentration of HH agonist that is not more thanabout 0.5 μM; said oligodendroglial committed precursor cells expressingone or more of the markers selected from Olig1, Olig2, NG2, PDGFRα, GD3,where at least Olig2 is co-expressed with one or more of NG2, PDGFRα,GD3. The oligodendroglial committed precursor cells can expand, undersuitable conditions.

Finally, there is provided by the present invention a method forpromoting differentiation of early multipotent uncommitted neuralprecursors towards oligodendroglial fate, the method comprisingpropagating for a period of at least 3 weeks, 5 weeks, 8 weeks, 12weeks, and even 3 months, of multipotent NPs in a medium comprisingpurmorphamine, the cells being preferably, although not onlyexclusively, cultured as floating spheres. It is noted that for thefirst time purmorphamine is used for oligodendroglial differentiation,which allows the propagation of the committed precursor cells for such along period of time, thus increasing the probability that the committedcells will successfully terminally differentiate into oligodendrocytes.

DESCRIPTION OF SOME NON-LIMITING EXAMPLES Materials and Methods:

hESC Culture:

hESC (HES-1 cell line) with a stable normal (46XX) karyotype werecultured on human foreskin feeders in serum free medium as described(18) and were passaged weekly by treatment with collagenase IV (1 mg/mlfor 20 min at 37′C).

Generation of Highly Enriched Populations of Uncommitted NeuralPrecursors for Transplantation:

wild type and cloned genetically modified hESCs that were infected by alentiviral vector expressing eGFP under the human EF1α promoter [19]were used for derivation of uncommitted neural precursors fortransplantation into EAE mice.

Colonies of undifferentiated hESCs were removed from the feeders bytreatment with collagenase IV (1 mg/ml for 20 min at 37° C.),transferred to 24-well culture dishes (Costar; Corning, Inc., Corning,N.Y., USA), and cultured in suspension in a chemically defined neuralprecursor medium (NPM) consisting of DMEM/F12 (1:1), B27 supplement(1:50), 2 mM glutamine, 50 units/ml penicillin, 50 μg/ml streptomycin(Gibco), and 20 ng/ml rh-FGF-2 (R&D Systems Inc., Minneapolis, Minn.).Recombinant mouse noggin (700 ng/ml; R&D Systems Inc.) was added to theNPM to promote neural differentiation as described [18]. After threeweeks under these culture conditions the neural spheres that developed[38] were further expanded in NPM and bFGF in the absence of noggin, for5 more weeks before transplantation.

Animals:

For MOG EAE induction and transplantation experiments, 6-7 weeks oldC57BL female mice were supplied by Harlan laboratories and weremaintained in a specific pathogen free (SPF) unit.

MOG EAE Induction:

EAE was induced in 6-7 weeks old female C57B/6 mice by immunization withan emulsion containing 300 μg of purified myelin oligodendrocyteglycoprotein (MOG) peptide (MEVGWYRSPFSRVVHLYRNGK, the amino acidsequence of the MOG peptide corresponding to residues 35-55) in PBS andan equal volume of complete Freund's adjuvant containing 5 mg H37RA(Difco). 0.2 ml of the inoculum was injected subcutaneously at day ofinduction (day 0) and at day 7. In addition, 300 ng of Bordetellapertusis toxin (Sigma) in 0.2 ml PBS was injected intraperitoneally atday of induction and at day 2.

Clinical Evaluations of CEAE:

After CEAE induction, mice were scored daily for CEAE clinical signs,according to the following score: 0, asymptomatic; 1, partial loss oftail tonicity; 2, atonic tail; 3, hind leg weakness and/or difficulty toroll over; 4, hind leg paralysis; 5, four leg paralysis; 6, death due toEAE.

At the end of the follow-up period, the maximal score and the cumulativescore of each animal were calculated. Maximal clinical score wascalculated as the mean of the maximal clinical scores during theexperimental period. Cumulative clinical score was calculated as themean of the sum of the daily clinical scores during the experimentalperiod.

Transplantation of Uncommitted Neural Precursors:

Seven days post EAE induction (day 7) the mice were anesthetized withintraperitoneal injection of pentobarbital (0.6 mg/10 gr) and were fixedin a stereotactic device. Quantities of 5×10⁵ cells or NPM in a volumeof 7.5 μl were injected into each lateral ventricle.

Tissue Fixation and Histological Preparation:

For analysis of the in-vivo localization and differentiation of thetransplanted cells, EAE animals were sacrificed at the end of thefollow-up period (50 days post-EAE induction). For histopathologicalanalysis of the progression of inflammation and tissue damage in thetime course experiment animals were sacrificed at 10, 13, 20 and 50 dayspost EAE induction (n=4-5 per group on each time point). Animals wereanesthetized with a lethal dose of pentobarbital and brains and spinalcords were perfused via the ascending aorta with ice-cold PBS followedby cold 4% paraformaldehyde in PBS. The tissues were dissected andpost-fixed by immersion in the same fixative for 24 h at 4° C. Brainswere deep frozen in liquid nitrogen and cut to serial 6-8 μM axial andlongitudinal sections and spinal cords were embedded in paraffin forpathological analysis.

Pathological Analysis:

Analysis of inflammation, demyelination and axonal damage was performedon 5 μm paraffin-embedded serial transverse sections in three differentrostrocaudal levels of the spinal cord. For histochemical analysis,sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin, Luxol fastblue/periodic-acid Schiff staining, and Bielschowsky silver impregnationto assess inflammation, demyelination, and axonal pathology,respectively. In adjacent serial sections, immunohistochemistry wasperformed with antibodies against macrophages/activated microglia (ratanti-mouse Mac3, 01781D, clone M3/84; 1:200; Pharmingen, San Diego,Calif.) and T cells (rat anti-human CD3, MCA 1477; 1:400, Serotec,Bicester, United Kingdom). Primary antibodies were detected by theavidin-biotin technique using biotin conjugated secondary antibodies.The total average number of positive cells per square millimeter, inspinal cord cross sections, was counted using a grid overlay.

Apoptosis of T cells in the CNS was determined morphologically by theappearance of condensed and fragmented nuclei in CD3+ cells. Thepercentage of apoptotic cells was determined in transplanted and controlanimals (n=3 in each group) by morphological analysis of 250 CD3+ cellsin random CNS sections.

Demyelination and axonal damage were assessed in spinal cord sections bycalculating the area of Luxol fast blue and Bielschowsky silver stainingloss, representing areas of myelin destruction and axonal loss,respectively. The percentage of demyelinated and axonal damage areas wasdetermined by counting intersections of the grid over the demyelinatedlesions and the areas of axonal loss.

For the evaluation of remyelination, animals were perfused with 4%gluteraldehyde. The fixed spinal cords were cut into 1 mm transverseblocks from the cervical, thoracic and lumbar areas. The blocks wereosmicated, dehydrated through an ascending series of ethanols andembedded in TAAB resin. One μm sections were cut from each block,stained with toluidine blue (Sigma), and examined by light microscopy.

To determine whether transplantation had an effect on remyelinationaxons from toluidine blue stained spinal cord semi-thin sections weremeasured, and their G ratios were calculated (G=axondiameter/(axon+myelin sheath diameter)). The G ratio of intact axons is0.5-0.8. Since the myelin sheath is thinner in remyelinated axons, anaxon with a G ratio >0.8 was considered remyelinated.

Immunofluorescent Staining of Uncommitted Neural Precursors In Vitro andIn Vivo:

The following primary antibodies were used: Rabbit IgG anti GFP (1:100,Chemicon), mouse IgG anti human specific mitochondria (1:200, Chemicon),mouse IgM anti-A2B5 (1:1, ATCC), mouse IgM anti PSA-NCAM (1:200,Chemicon), rabbit IgG anti-nestin (1:50, Chemicon), rabbit anti musashi(1:100, Chemicon), Anti human NUC, rabbit IgG anti-NG2 (1:50, Chemicon),mouse IgM anti-PDGFRα (1:20, R&D), rabbit IgG anti NGN2 (1:300,Chemicon), rabbit anti-galactocerebroside (GalC, 1:20, Chemicon), mouseIgM anti-O4 (1:20, Chemicon), rabbit IgG anti MAP2 (1:200, Chemicon),mouse IgG anti β tubulin III (1:2000, Sigma) rabbit anti-glialfibrillary acidic protein (GFAP, 1:100, Dako), rabbit IgG anti olig1(1:20, Chemicon) and goat anti olig2 (1:30, R&D). Texas red or Alexa488-conjugated goat anti-mouse IgM (1:100, Jackson, West Grove, PN),goat anti-rabbit IgG (1:100, Molecular Probes), goat anti-mouse IgG(1:100, Molecular Probes) or donkey anti-goat IgG (1:200, Jackson, WestGrove, PN) were used as secondary antibodies, where appropriate.

For in-vitro characterization of the cells that were generated fortransplantation, small aggregates of cells were plated on poly-D-lysine(10 μg/ml) and fibronectin (5 μg/ml; both from Sigma) pre-coated coverslips in a central well plates in NPM without growth factors. Half ofthe cultures were fixated in 4% paraformaldehyde After 4 hours andstained for A2B5, nestin, Musashi and PSA-ψNCAM. The rest of thecultures were fixed after 7 days of differentiation, and stained for βtubulin III and GFAP. The cell surface markers NG2, O4, and GalC werestained in living cells followed by fixation in 4% paraformaldehyde. Thecells were incubated with primary antibody for 45 min followed by 30 minincubation with a secondary antibody. Mounting medium containing 4V,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI; Vector, Burlingame, Calif.) was usedfor nuclei counter staining.

For characterization of the in-vivo location and differentiation of thetransplanted cells, double immunofluorescent staining was performed on6-8 μm axial frozen brain sections. The sections were incubated withprimary antibody overnight at 4° C. followed by 50 min incubation with asecondary antibody at room temperature.

Images were taken by a fluorescent (Nikon E600, Kanagawa, Japan) orconfocal microscope (Zeiss, Feldbach, Switzerland). Three hundred cellswere scored within random fields at ×1000 magnification using the NikonE600 fluorescent microscope. The percentage of each cell phenotype wasdetermined by dividing the number of positively stained cells by thetotal number of DAPI stained nuclei.

Co-Cultures of hESC-Derived Uncommitted Neural Precursors and LNCs:

Lymph nodes were excised from naïve mice. LNCs were cultured assingle-cell suspensions, as described previously 20 with 2.5 μg/ml ConAor in control medium. Neural precursors were irradiated with 3,000 Radfor 1 minute and then added directly to the LNC culture medium withnonstimulated or stimulated LNCs (10⁵ NPs/2×10⁵ LNCs)

In-Vitro Proliferation Assay:

The proliferation of LNCs after 72-hour incubation in-vitro wasevaluated by means of a standard ³H-thymidine incorporation assay, asdescribed previously (20), In all fluorescent activated cell sorter(FACS) experiments, cells were pre-coated with anti--mouse CD16/CD32 (BDPharmingen,) to block unspecific binding, and T cells were identified bycell-surface labeling with APC-labeled anti-Thy1.2 (BD Pharmingen). Allsamples were analyzed in a FACSCalibur apparatus using the Cell Questsoftware (BD Biosciences, San Jose, Calif.). The proliferation of Tcells obtained from naive mice was evaluated by FACS analysis for theincorporation of the cell division tracking dye 5(6)-carboxyfluoresceindiacetate succinimidyl ester (CFSE), as described previously (21), ForCFSE FACS analysis, LNCs were pulsed with 3 μM CFSE (Molecular Probes,Eugene, Oreg.) for 10 minutes, washed, and further cultured with orwithout ConA for 72 hours. CFSE-labeled, non-activated cells were usedas control samples. The fraction of T cells that entered cell cycle wascalculated by the formula:

$\frac{\sum\frac{{total}\mspace{14mu} {events}\mspace{14mu} {in}\mspace{14mu} {cycle}\mspace{14mu} n}{2^{n}\mspace{14mu} \left( {{{for}\mspace{14mu} n} \geq 1} \right)}}{\sum\frac{{Total}\mspace{14mu} {events}\mspace{14mu} {in}\mspace{14mu} {cycle}\mspace{14mu} n}{2^{n}\mspace{14mu} \left( {{{for}\mspace{14mu} n} \geq 0} \right)}}$

T-cell activation was analyzed by staining with PE-labeled anti-CD25(Serotec, Bicestar, United Kingdom) for interleukin-2 receptor α(IL-2Rα),

Statistical Analysis:

Clinical evaluations of CEAE mice and quantification of the pathologicalfeatures were performed by examiner, blinded to the experimental group.The results are presented as mean±SD. For comparison of clinical andpathological parameters between experimental and control groups,student's t-test was used. For analysis of the relationship between theinflammatory process and the tissue damage, regression analysis wasused.

Derivation of Enriched Population of Committed OligodendrocyteProgenitor Cells (OPCs):

Initial neural differentiation of hESC was induced as described abovefor the derivation of enriched population of uncommitted neuralprecursors. Following two weeks of culturing of hESC clusters in NPMsupplemented with noggin (700 ng/ml), and the oligodendroglial mitogensbFGF (20 ng/ml) and EGF (20 ng/ml), the cultures were treated withretinoic acid (RA) (sigma) (10 μM) to induce caudal specification of theneuralized cells. Following 7 days of RA treatment, cultures werepropagated as floating spheres in the oligodendroglial specific,modified Sato medium [22] supplemented with the oligodendroglialmitogens bFGF (20 ng/ml), EGF (20 ng/ml) and PDGF-AA (50 ng/ml), and theoligodendroglial survival and maturation factors neurotrophine 3 (NT3)(5 ng/ml) and triiodothyronine (T3) (40 ng/ml).

To derive an expandable population of neural precursors enriched foroligodendroglial progenitors (committed), initial neuralization of hESCswas induced as above with or without noggin supplementation. After 2weeks of culturing in NPM supplemented with mitogens+/−noggin theclusters were treated with RA (1-10 μM; preferably 1 μM) and thehedgehog agonist, Purmurphamine (Merck) (0.5-2 μM; preferably 0.5 μM) toinduce ventral-caudal specification of the neuralized cells. Following7-21 days, preferably 21 days of treatment, the cultures were furtherpropagated for three to 20 more weeks as floating spheres in modifiedSato medium supplemented with low concentrations of purmorphamine(0.2-0.5 μM; preferably 0.5 μM), bFGF (20 ng/ml), EGF (20 ng/ml), (NT3;5 ng/ml) and ascorbic acid (200 nM). For final differentiation, theclusters were plated on poly-D-Lysine (10 μg/ml) and fibronectin (5μg/ml) coated coverslips in modified Sato medium supplemented with NT3(5 ng/ml), ascorbic acid (200 nM) T3 (40 ng/ml) IGF1 (long/ml;) with orwithout Rock inhibitor (10 μM; Sigma) for 2-21 days.

Results:

Characterization of hESC-Derived Neural Progeny

To evaluate the therapeutic potential of transplanted hESC-derivedneural progeny in the animal model of MS, uncommitted neural precursorswere derived from hESC by culturing clusters of undifferentiated hESC insuspension in chemically defined medium supplemented with noggin, bFGFand EGF and after 3 weeks further propagated in the same medium withoutnoggin supplementation. It was demonstrated that these neural precursorswere multipotent and can give rise both in vivo and in vitro to progenyrepresenting the three major neural lineages including neurons,astrocytes and oligodendrocytes.

Prior to the transplantation of the hESC-derived neural precursors intothe brain ventricles of chronic EAE rats, the characterization of theirdifferentiation in vitro was once again established, which wasconsistent with previous published results [17]. Enriched populations ofneural precursors in floating spheres were generated by culturing hESCclusters in serum free medium supplemented with noggin for 3 weeks. Thespheres were further expanded 5 weeks in the same medium supplementedwith mitogens (e.g. bFGF and EGF) before transplantation. The humanneurospheres that were prepared for transplantation were highly enrichedwith uncommitted neural precursors, as indicated by the expression ofA2B5, Musashi, nestin and PSA-NCAM (FIGS. 1A-1D, respectively). At thispoint differentiation of the neural precursors was induced by platingthe spheres on fibronectin-coated coverslips and by mitogen withdrawal.Immunofluorescent staining, performed 7 days later, demonstrated thatthe neural precursors differentiated mainly into neurons and astrocytes,as was indicated by the expression of the neuronal marker βIII tubulinby 67% of the differentiating cells and the astrocyte marker GFAP by 12%of the cells (FIGS. 1E-1F). The expression of the oligodendroglialmarker, O4 by differentiating cells, was marginal (<0.01%, not shown).

The Effect of Transplanted hESC-Derived Uncommitted Neural Precursors onClinical Course of EAE:

GFP expressing hESC-derived neural precursors were transplanted into thebrain ventricles of chronic MOG EAE mice. As described in the Materialsand Methods sections, the transplanted (n=15) and control (n=21) groupsof MOG EAE mice were scored daily during a 38 days period for clinicalsigns of EAE (FIG. 2). Statistical analysis of the clinical scoresrevealed that transplanted hESC-derived NPs significantly attenuated theclinical signs of EAE, as was indicated by reduced maximal clinicalscores and reduced cumulative scores in transplanted (▪) versus control(▴) animals (FIG. 2 and Table 1). The severity of the disease wasmeasured by calculating maximal clinical score, and cumulative clinicalscore (defined in the notes below(^(1,2))), for transplanted and controlgroups. Both clinical parameters of transplanted animals weresignificantly improved in comparison to controls. It is noted thatreduced clinical signs in transplanted animals were evident as early asthe acute phase of the disease.

TABLE 1 Parameters of EAE severity in transplanted and control animalscells transplanted (N = 15) Control (N = 21) P value Max clinical score¹2.65 ± 1.32 3.95 ± 1.25 0.0044 Cumulative clinical 58.06 ± 53.57 93.89 ±51.58 0.0475 score² ¹Maximal clinical score = Mean of the maximalclinical scores during the experimental period. ²Cumulative clinicalscore = Mean of the sum of the daily clinical scores during theexperimental period.In-Vivo Localization and Differentiation Fate of TransplantedhESC-Derived Neural Precursors:

After the 38 days period of the behavioral follow up (described above),the transplanted and control animals were sacrificed forhistopathological analysis. Immunofluorescent staining of brain sectionsdemonstrated that the transplanted neural precursors, identified by theexpression of human-specific mitochondria (FIGS. 3A, 3C-3G), /humannuclei antigens (FIG. 3B) or by expression of GFP (FIGS. 3A (insert),3H) survived in the brain tissue.

The neural precursors migrated extensively from the brain lateralventricles exclusively into white matter areas such as the corpuscallosum and the periventricular white matter (CC in FIG. 3A) and werenot observed in grey matter areas such as subcortical grey matter (SGMin FIG. 3A). Costaining with anti-O4 which is an oligodendroglialmarker, was used to identify the white matter (FIG. 3A). Nuclei werecounterstained with DAPI. The high migratory properties of hESCs-derivedneural precursors in response to inflammation is believed to be centralto any beneficial effect of transplanted cells whether by their ownregenerative potential or by reducing the disease process in their localsurrounding.

Immunofluorescent stainings demonstrated that most of the transplantedcells either remained as uncommitted precursors, identified by theexpression of the RNA binding protein, Musashi (FIG. 3B) or committedinto common bipotential neuronal/oligodendroglial precursors, expressingthe bHLH transcription factors Olig1 (FIG. 3C) and Olig2 (FIG. 3D). Sometransplanted cells further differentiated into neuronal precursorsexpressing NGN2 (FIG. 3E), oligodendroglial progenitors, expressing NG2(FIG. 3F), astrocytes expressing GFAP (FIG. 3G) and matureoligodendrocytes expressing markers such as GalC (FIG. 3H). Theincidence of differentiation into these cell types was ˜1% per celltype.

Serial H&E-stained sections covering the entire brain did not revealteratomas or any other tumor formation in transplanted mice.

These data showed that the transplanted hESC-derived neural precursorshad the potential to undergo differentiation in vivo towards severalcell types including oligodendrocytes and therefore they may be used forregeneration and remyelination in MS. However, the use in these studies,of an experimental animal model which allows only very limitedremyelination, and consequently the relatively small amount ofdifferentiation into mature oligodendrocytes highlighted that mechanismsother than remyelination by the transplanted cells may underline theobserved therapeutic effect in this specific model.

To determine whether transplantation had an effect on endogenousremyelination we calculated the G ratios of axons from toluidine bluestained spinal cord semi-thin sections. Axons with a G ratio >0.8 wereconsidered remyelinated. Analysis of the G ratios values of axons fromthe transplanted and control groups revealed more demyelinated axons inthe non-transplanted group (FIGS. 31-3J) and a number of remyelinatedaxons in both groups (FIGS. 31-3J). Albeit low remyelination, it isbelieved that subject to specific conditions selected, localtransplantation of hESC-derived neural precursors (committed and/oruncommitted) will result in a meaningful remyelination preferably to anextent at least as equal to the protective anti-inflammatory effectobtained thereby or above (see below).

Transplanted hESC-Derived Neural Precursors Attenuate the InflammatoryProcess and the Progression of Host Tissue Damage

A time course experiment was performed in which the evolution of theinflammatory process and the tissue damage was compared in neuralprecursor-transplanted and control EAE mice. Following the induction ofMOG EAE and transplantation as described above, mice from transplantedand control groups were sacrificed at 4 time points which represented 4critical stages in the course of EAE: Day 10 in which immune cells beginto infiltrate the CNS although the disease does not yet manifestclinically; Day 13 in which there are early clinical signs andinflammation is more robust; Day 20 which represents the peak of theacute phase of MOG EAE; and Day 50 which represents the chronic phase.In each time point (n=5 per time point) histochemical and pathologicalanalysis of spinal cord sections was performed to quantify the severityof inflammation, demyelination and axonal damage.

To measure the extent of inflammation, the numbers of immune cellinfiltrations, numbers of CD3+ T cells and numbers of Mac3+macrophages/activated microglia per mm² of the sections were examined.Demyelination and axonal injury were measured by luxol fast blue lossand Bielschowsky staining, respectively.

Regression analysis of T cells and macrophages the areas of axonal lossat days 13 and 20 post EAE induction demonstrated that in bothtransplanted and control groups the extent of the inflammatory processwas strongly correlated to the severity of tissue damage at these timepoints (r²=0.86, P=0.00002, FIG. 4). An evidence for initialinfiltration of immune cells into the CNS was detected in both groups asearly as 10 days post EAE induction. However, the numbers of CD3+ cellsand Mac3+ cells were significantly decreased in the transplantedanimals, starting from Day 13 and Day 20 post EAE induction,respectively (FIGS. 5A, 5D, 5G, and Table 2). The difference between thegroups in the numbers of immune cells in the CNS even increased at thelater time points examined (Table 2). In addition, axonal damage anddemyeliantion were first detected in both groups at day 13 postinduction (FIGS. 5J, 5M and Table 2). Both parameters becamesignificantly reduced in the transplanted group as compared to thecontrols at day 20 post induction and the difference between the groupsin the amount of axonal damage even increased at the last time point weexamined (FIGS. 5J, and 5M, and Table 2). To summarize, FIGS. 5A-50 showthat in neural precursors-transplanted mice an attenuation of theinflammatory process, indicated by less immune-cell infiltrates (FIG.5A), less T cells (FIG. 5D) and less macrophages/activated microglia(FIG. 5G) was evident from Day 13 post EAE induction and becamesignificant from Day 20 and on. Demyelination, indicated by loss ofKluver Barrera staining (FIG. 5J) and axonal damage, indicated byBielschowsky staining (FIG. 5M) were both significantly reduced from Day20 post EAE induction and on. Representative images of H&E stainingFIGS. 5B, 5C), CD3 (FIGS. 5E, 5F) and Mac3 immunostaining (FIGS. 5H-5I),Kluver Barrera staining (FIGS. 5K-5L) and Bielschowsky silver staining(FIGS. 5N-50) taken from Day 20 post EAE induction, demonstrate thereduction in transplanted versus control mice in the numbers of immunecell infiltrates, T cells, macrophages, areas of demyelination and areasof axonal damage, respectively.

Quantification of apoptotic CD3+ T cells in the histopathologicalsections showed 3.2±2.4% pyknotic T cell nuclei in control EAE CNS and2.7±2.5% in transplanted CNS.

Thus, the effect of transplantation was not mediated by induction ofT-cell apoptosis in the CNS of EAE mice. This determination supports theunderstanding that the neural progenitors provide a protective effect(by preventing immune cells from penetrating the CNS) and that there isno induction of apoptosis of immune cells in the CNS.

TABLE 2 Histopathological analyses of inflammatory parameters,demyelination, and axonal damage in the spinal cord of C57BL/6 mice at10, 13, 20, and 30 days after MOG35-55 EAE induction Pathologicalparameter Control EAE (n = 5) Transplanted (n = 5) P Value InflammationNo. Immune cell Day 10 p.i.* 0.18 ± 0.2   0.1 ± 0.13 0.5 infiltrationsmm² Day 13 p.i.* 1.43 ± 0.5  1.15 ± 0.4 0.32 (H&E) Day 20 p.i.* 7.1 ±1.4 5.22 ± 0.6 0.044 Day 50 p.i.* 5.1 ± 0.9 2.41 ± 0.7 0.006 No. CD3 + TCells/ Day 10 p.i.* 2.5 ± 2.9 1.66 ± 2.3 0.65 mm² Day 13 p.i.* 19.16 ±4.2  14.66 ± 4.3  0.047 Day 20 p.i.*0 152.9 ± 22.7  120.2 ± 11.1 0.016Day 50 p.i.* 108.05 ± 20.9  57.26 ± 13   0.029 No. Day 10 p.i.* 4.79 ±6    3.5 ± 4.8 0.73 MAC3 + Macrophages/ Day 13 p.i.* 40.2 ± 8.5  34.16 ±5.8  0.24 mm² Day 20 p.i.*  240 ± 32.9   190 ± 19.8 0.027 Day 50 p.i.*179.44 ± 15.9  106.04 ± 22.5  0.005 Axonal Pathology % Axonal Day 10p.i.* 0 0 — injury/Section Day 13 p.i.*  1.3 ± 0.57  1.23 ± 0.53 0.758(Bielschowsky) Day 20 p.i.* 4.65 ± 1   3.41 ± 0.4 0.038 Day 50 p.i.*5.22 ± 0.83  3.58 ± 0.25 0.024 Demyelination % Demyelination/ Day 10p.i.* 0 0 — Section (Klyver Day 13 p.i.* 0.68 ± 0.15  0.6 ± 0.14 0.409Barrera - PAS) Day 20 p.i.*  4.2 ± 0.36 2.82 ± 0.5 0.002 Day 50 p.i.*4.36 ± 0.24 2.85 ± 1.4 0.002 *post injection

The above data demonstrated the potential of the hESC-derived neuralprecursors to differentiate in vivo towards the oligodendroglial fateand the potential of the transplanted hESC-derived neural precursors toattenuate the inflammatory process and consequently the host neuralparenchymal pathology of EAE mice.

hESC-Derived Neural Precursors Inhibit Activation and Proliferation ofLymph-Node Cells, in Response to Concavalin A (ConA).

It was previously demonstrated that neural precursors derived frombrains of newborn mice exhibited a bystander inhibitory effect on T-cellactivation and proliferation in vitro (13). In order to determinewhether the hESC-derived neural precursors have similarimmunosuppressive properties, the neural precursors were co-culturedwith lymph-node cells (LNCs). First, the ³H-thymidine incorporationassay was employed to test whether hESC-derived NPs exert a directsuppressor effect on the in-vitro proliferation of LNCs obtained fromnaïve C57BL mice. The human neural precursors inhibited LNCproliferation in response to ConA, in a dose dependent manner (FIG. 6A).A maximal effect of 91% inhibition in 3H-thymidine incorporation wasobtained when NPs/LNC ratio of 1:2 was used. This ratio was thereforeused for the following in-vitro experiments.

The effect of hESC-derived neural precursors on T-cell activation andproliferation was then investigated. To this end, the induction ofIL-2Rα, a marker for T-cell activation, in Thy1.2+ T cells was measured.In LNCs co-cultured with the human neural precursors the fraction ofIL-2Rα T cells was reduced by 32%, and a similar decrease was observedin the mean fluorescence intensity of IL-2Rα (FIGS. 6B-6C). In addition,naive LNCs were labeled with CFSE and stimulated with ConA in thepresence or absence of neural precursors. FACS analysis showed that thehuman neural precursors reduced the fraction of cycling T cells from 49%to 21% (FIG. 6D-6E).

In vitro oligodendroglial differentiation of hESCs was examined. Theexperimental protocol included initial induction of human ESCs todifferentiate as free floating clusters, under defined cultureconditions, in the presence of noggin into early multipotent neuralprecursors according to the published protocols [17] as described above.After two weeks, they were treated with retinoic acid (RA) andpropagated as floating spheres in modified Sato medium and mitogens Atsequential week intervals, differentiation was induced by plating onfibronectin and withdrawal of the mitogens, and the expression ofoligodendroglial markers were analyzed by immunostaining. After threeweeks of propagation as free floating clusters, followed by plating anddifferentiation for 48 hours, the differentiating cells expressed theoligodendroglial markers NG2 (12%) (FIGS. 7A,6C, 7D, 7F) GD3 (20%)(FIGS. 7B, 7C) and PDGFRα (15%) (FIGS. 7E, 7F). Although at this stageof three weeks propagation, when enrichment for OPCs was obtained,markers of mature oligodendrocytes such as O4 and GalC were notdetected, even after 7-10 days of differentiation. Only in cultures thatwere propagated for more than 5 weeks and induced to differentiate for 7days, O4 and GalC were expressed by 3% and 1% of differentiating cells,respectively (FIGS. 7G, 7I (O4) and FIGS. 7H, 7I (GalC). Nuclei in FIGS.7C, 7F, 7G-7I were counter stained with DAPI.

To develop expandable cultures enriched for oligodendroglial committedprogenitors, hESCs clusters were induced to differentiate as freefloating clusters into multipotent uncommitted neural precursors asabove with or without noggin. After two weeks of initial neuralinduction the multipotent uncommitted neural precursors were furthercultured for 1-3 weeks, preferably 3 weeks, as floating spheres inmodified Sato medium supplemented with mitogens, retinoic acid (RA) andthe hedgehog (HH) agonist purmorphamine. During this culture period theearly multipotent neural precursors gradually become enriched withOlig2+ oligodendroglial precursors (30-50% of total cells).

For further expansion of the oligodendroglial precursors, the floatingspheres were propagated in Sato medium supplemented with mitogens, andlow concentrations (0.5 μM) of purmorphamine. After 3-20 weeks ofpropagation as free floating clusters and plating on fibronectin for24-48 hours, expression of the OPC markers Olig2 (FIG. 8A), PDGFRα (FIG.8B) and NG2 (FIG. 8C) were detected in 30%, 20% and 20% of thedifferentiating cells, respectively. Following further 7-21 days ofdifferentiation in the presence of NT3, AA, T3 and IGF1+/−Rockinhibitor, markers of mature oligodendrocytes such as O4 (FIG. 8D), GalC(FIG. 8E) and MBP (FIG. 8F) were detected in 20%, 15% and 3% of theplated cells, respectively.

In cultures where early neutralization (2 weeks) and caudal ventralspecification with RA and HH agonist (3 weeks) was induced as above butwere further propagated in Sato medium in the absence of purmorphaminethe level of enrichment for Olig2 and O4 following five weeks ofpropagation and 1-7 days of differentiation was only 5% and 3%,respectively (FIGS. 8G-8H).

Taking into consideration all the above results, it was concluded thattransplantation of hESC-derived neural precursors in any manner, topatients suffering from autoimmune demyelination disease, e.g. MS, mayfacilitate both remyelination and attenuation of the local inflammatoryprocess and thus produce a dual therapeutic effect. Sucholigodendroglial-committed precursors may also be transplanted incombination with hESC-derived multipotent, nonoligodendroglial-committed precursors, to obtain neural protection andregeneration by each of the two neural precursor types respectively.

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1. A method for preparing a population of neural precursor cellscommitted to an oligodendroglial fate; comprising: (a) incubating earlymultipotent uncommitted neural precursor cells derived from humanpluripotent stem cells with RA and an HH agonist at a firstconcentration being between about 0.5 μM and about 2.0 μM to allow thecells to propagate as floating spheres enriched with oligodendroglialprecursors; (b) allowing the floating spheres to further expand in amedium comprising a second concentration of HH agonist that is not morethan about 0.5 μM to obtain an expanded population of neural precursorcells committed to an oligodendroglial fate.
 2. The method of claim 1,comprising plating the obtained expanded population of neural precursorcells committed to an oligodendroglial fate on an ECM wherebydifferentiation of the neural precursor cells committed to anoligodendroglial fate to terminally differentiated oligodendrocytes isobtained.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the HH agonist ispurmorphamine.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein incubation with HHagonist is performed in the presence of at least one mitogen.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the first concentration of HH agonist isabout 0.5 μM, and the second concentration of HH agonist is betweenabout 0.2 μM and about 0.5 μM.
 6. The method of claim 2, wherein theplating is performed in the absence of HH agonist and in the absence ofa mitogen.
 7. A method for treating a subject having a CNS autoimmunedisease, the method comprising administering to the subject a populationof cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells, the population ofcells comprising: (a) neural precursor cells committed to anoligodendroglial fate; (b) uncommitted neural precursor cells (c)differentiated oligodendrocytes; or (d) any combination of two or moreof (a) to (c).
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the population of cellscomprising neural precursors committed to an oligodendroglial fate areobtainable by: (c) incubating early multipotent uncommitted neuralprecursor cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells with RA and anHH agonist at a first concentration being between about 0.5 μM and about2.0 μM to allow the cells to propagate as floating spheres enriched witholigodendroglial progenitors; (d) allowing the floating spheres tofurther expand in a medium comprising a second concentration of HHagonist that is not more than about 0.5 μM to obtain an expandedpopulation of cells comprising neural precursor cells committed to anoligodendroglial fate.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprisingplating the thus expanded population of neural precursor cells committedto an oligodendroglial fate on an extracellular matrix thereby allowingdifferentiation of the committed cells to terminally differentiatedoligodendrocytes.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the HH agonist ispurmorphamine.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein incubation with HHagonist is performed in the presence at least one mitogen.
 12. Themethod of claim 9, wherein the first concentration of HH agonist isabout 0.5 μM, and the second concentration of HH agonist is betweenabout 0.2 μM and about 0.5 μM.
 13. The method of claim 9, wherein theextracellular matrix is fibronectin.
 14. The method of claim 7, for thetreatment of a CNS autoimmune disease associated with an inflammatoryreaction.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the autoimmune disease isan inflammatory demyelinating disease.
 16. The method of claim 15,wherein the disease is multiple sclerosis.
 17. The method of claim 7,comprising administration to a subject in need of two or morepopulations of cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells, thepopulation of cells being selected from a population of neural precursorcells committed to an oligodendroglial fate; a population of uncommittedneural precursor cells, a population of differentiated oligodendrocytes;wherein the two or more populations of cells being administered togetheror separately, simultaneously or in sequence.
 18. The method of claim 7,comprising local administration of said population of cells to the CNS.19. The method of claim 18, wherein the local administration comprisestransplantation of the population of cells to the lateral ventricles orintrathecally.
 20. A method for producing a population ofdifferentiating neural precursor cells committed towardsoligodendroglial fate, the method comprising: (a) incubating earlymultipotent uncommitted neural precursor cells derived from humanpluripotent stem cells with retinoic acid (RA) and an hedgehog (HH)agonist at a first concentration between about 0.5 μM and about 2.0 μMto allow the cells to propagate as floating spheres enriched witholigodendroglial precursors; and (b) allowing the floating spheres tofurther expand in a medium comprising a second concentration of HHagonist that is not more than about 0.5 μM to obtain an expandedpopulation of neural precursor cells committed to an oligodendroglialfate.
 21. A method for producing a population of differentiatedoligodendrocyte cells the method comprising: (a) incubating earlymultipotent uncommitted neural precursor cells derived from humanpluripotent stem cells with retinoic acid (RA) and an hedgehog (HH)agonist at a first concentration between about 0.5 μM and about 2.0 μMto allow said early multipotent NPs to propagate as floating spheresbeing enriched with oligodendroglial precursors; (b) allowing thefloating spheres to further expand in a medium comprising a secondconcentration of HH agonist that is not more than about 0.5 μM to obtainan expanded population of neural precursor cells committed to anoligodendroglial fate; and (c) plating expanded population of neuralprecursor cells committed to an oligodendroglial fate on anextracellular matrix thereby allowing differentiation intooligodendrocytes.
 22. The method of claim 20, wherein the HH agonist ispurmorphamine.
 23. The method of any one of claim 22, wherein incubationwith HH agonist is performed in the presence of at least one mitogen.24. The method of claim 23, wherein the first concentration of HHagonist is about 0.5 μM, and the second concentration of HH agonist isbetween about 0.2 μM and about 0.5 μM.
 25. The method of claim 21,wherein the extracellular matrix is fibronectin.
 26. The method of anyone of claim 21, for obtaining neural precursor cells committed to anoligodendroglial fate, the cells expressing at least one of thefollowing markers: Olig1, Olig2, NG2, PDGFRα, GD3, O4, GalC and MBP,wherein at least Olig2 is co expressed with one or more of a markerselected from NG2, PDGFRα and GD3.
 27. The method of claim 21, forobtaining differentiated oligodendrocytes expressing at least one of thefollowing markers: Olig1, Olig2, NG2, PDGFRα, GD3, O4, GalC and MBP,where at least Olig2 is co expressed with one or more of a markerselected from 04, GalC and MBP.
 28. The method of claim 21, wherein thecells thus obtained are expandable.
 29. The method of claim 21, whereinthe plating is in the absence of one or more of an HH agonist and amitogen.
 30. A population of oligodendroglial committed precursor cellsobtainable by incubating floating spheres of early multipotent neuralprecursor cells in a medium comprising a concentration of HH agonistthat is not more than about 0.5 μM; the oligodendroglial committedprogenitor cells expressing one or more of the markers selected fromOlig1, Olig2, NG2, PDGFRα, GD3, where at least Olig2 is co expressedwith one or more of a marker selected from NG2, PDGFRα, GD3.
 31. Theoligodendroglial committed precursor cells of claim 30, wherein theoligodendroglial committed precursor cells are-expandable.
 32. A methodfor promoting differentiation of early multipotent neural precursorcells towards oligodendroglial fate, the method comprising propagatingfloating spheres comprising early multipotent neural precursors in amedium comprising purmorphamine.